Unnatural

Film: Unnatural

Year: 2024

Director: Whit Whitman

Writers: Don Perrin and Whit Whitman

Starring: Al Snow, John Wells and Darren Lee Cupp

Review:

This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Marc from Silk Road Entertainment. The screener was sent over and what caught my attention first was that this was a western/horror film. This is a combination that we don’t get a lot of, but when it is done right, they tend to be strong. Something else that interested me was that it starred Al Snow, who used to be a wrestler in WWE when I first got into watching. I hadn’t seen him do anything for a while so that intrigued me.

Synopsis: a gunslinger on a mission from God must track down supernatural creatures as penance for his past sins.

We start this off seeing the woods around a house. There is a howl and we see it is a full moon. The father is Danny Remington (Keith Migra) and his wife is Lisa (Megan Reneau). She wants him to ignore the howl where he is concerned with this wolf that is stalking their property. This is set in the past of the wild west days. They are doing bible study to pass the night with their two children, Jessy (Charlee Carmicle) and Junior (Samuel Wilson). There are two things that we learn around this time. Jessy sees ghosts and she can communicate with them. This upsets her parents. Junior seems to be on the spectrum and is good with machines.

Danny goes out to kill this animal and he’s taken. Lisa goes after him and she is as well. What attacked this family was a werewolf. It comes into the house and they’re saved by Dan (Snow). This turns out to be their grandfather. He is a monster hunter sent by God. He doesn’t think he can take care of his grandchildren, but a ghost scolds him. This turns out to be his wife who has passed away, played by Kelly Miller. Danny ends up taking the two with him after being convinced.

This then shifts over to a town called Possum Trot. What I didn’t realize is that these events are taking place in Tennessee. The town’s sheriff, Roddy Hawken (John Wells), has strict rules. All guns are to be checked into the sheriff’s office before sundown. No one is to be out after dark and children are not allowed. We see these rules tested by the Colt brothers. There are Timmy (David Mahr), Nathen (Derek McMahan) and Rex (John Eric Lee Smith). Rex gets an idea of the town through a shop owner, Jennifer McFarlin (Melissa O. Bowen). They also push the buttons of Deputy Thadius Daggett (Darren Lee Cupp). The Colts are here for a good reason, they’re also monster hunters. They underestimate what is plaguing this town as well as the people who protect it.

Our trio is on their way back to Dan’s homestead when the spirits tell him they need to go to Possum Trot. Dan also meets Jennifer and ruffles the feathers of the local law enforcement, like the earlier Colt brothers. Everything he knows will be put to the test, including his faith, as he tries to free this town from their supernatural problems all while protecting his grandchildren.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting concept overall. I’ve already said that combining western with horror can do that. Part of it is that we have isolated areas and towns, so something supernatural could happen without other places knowing. There also isn’t technology. That ramps up the tension when you have people going up against supernatural forces and they’re overmatched. This worked for me. Another aspect is that people during this era tended to be more religious. Part of it was that life expectancy was lower, modern science hadn’t progressed and you needed a way to understand the things around you. It was a simpler time. This does seem to be missing things for it to fully come together.

What does work though as I said is the setting. It throws me off that this is taking place in Tennessee. This isn’t a gripe, because I believe that the area it is filmed in was probably rural like it is here. My brain just went to Oklahoma or areas like that. It is funny how that is what we think or expect. Having a supernatural creature taking over a town like this during the era would make sense. Word wouldn’t travel, especially since my guess, people don’t know or if they encounter it, they don’t live to tell the tale. It also makes sense to have nomadic hunters of monsters like this. I do enjoy that we see the Colt brothers there and then of course, Dan. What I also find interesting is that character last names are nods to different firearm makers as well. Remington and Colt to name a couple.

I do need to shift to a negative here. This movie is too much of a slow burn. When I saw that this ran 104 minutes when settling in, that made me pause. I don’t hate long movies, let me say that here. I subscribe to the idea that everything up to 90 minutes is free. The movie needs to earn what’s over that. I’m guessing that an editor who wasn’t associated with the project would be needed to trim the fat and make this run tighter. The issues that I noticed were after Dan and his grandchildren arrive in town, the movie isn’t sure what it wants to do there to raise tension. It is interesting especially since not everyone is safe, which is a positive.

I’ll stick with filmmaking here and say that other than the pacing, this is made well enough. I thought that the cinematography and framing were good. They did well in capturing the era it is set. That is a positive, including the outfits, weapons and how the characters speak. This is limited to the effects, which are fine. The practical ones used were good. There was CGI here that wasn’t great. What I will say is that they are strategic with the editing to help hide that when they can. Credit there. Other than that, I did think that the soundtrack was fine. A good touch was us hearing ghosts at different times, they did distort it until a scene late. That worked for me.

All that is left then is acting, which was fine actually. Allen Sarven aka Snow was solid as our lead. He has a raspy voice that fits the character well. Wells works as this villainous sheriff. I did predict the reveal there, but there was an added part that I didn’t. Carmicle and Wilson were good as these two teens that have their life turned upside. My only issue there is that I think they’d be bothered more than what we got. Less from Junior than his sister since we learned something about him, but I digress. Cupp along with the other deputies work. I like the fact that they know more than they’re letting on and it is a moral decision to hide it. Bowen works as did Mahr, McMahan, Smith and the rest of the cast for what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a movie that has things going in its favor. Being that we’re getting a western with horror elements, which was good. There are story elements here that work. The period it is set helps. They do well in capturing that as well. I’d say that the acting is solid across the board. There are issues though with filmmaking when it comes to the editing which hurts the pacing. I have slight issues with effects as well. Not one that I can recommend to everyone. If you are a big fan of movies like this, especially on a lower budget, then I’d recommend giving this a watch.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10